


Appraisal

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 3, Mass Effect 3: Citadel, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 10:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7571359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard may only be an honorary member of the clan, but Clan Urdnot protects its own regardless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Appraisal

“How long were you on the Normandy?”

“Hmm?” Kaidan glanced up to see a very large, very intense-looking krogan nearly staring a hole through him. “Umm… I joined right around the time that Shepard did. Why?”

Grunt… grunted. He crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t bother answering the human’s question. “So you helped her kill that turian?”

“Saren?” Kaidan set his beer aside to give the krogan his full attention. “Yeah, I was right there by her side.”

“Good,” Grunt replied with a nod. “And you fought Collectors?”

“Well, I wasn’t with Shepard at the time,” Kaidan answered, his hand rubbing the back of his neck idly as he glanced aside. “But yes, I fought them, too. I heard that you have a talent for it as well.”

“You bet your ass I do,” the krogan answered, not even a hint of a smile on his face. “Rachni, too.”

“Yeah, heard that, also. Did Shepard ever tell you about the Rachni queen we found?” Kaidan was probably trying to start a more friendly conversation than the one Grunt seemed to be intent on conducting at the moment.

“You fight thresher maws?”

Kaidan paused and glanced around at the other party goers. No one seemed to notice the odd list of questions that Grunt had for him. “Uh… I have before, yes.”

“On foot?”

 

“No. Definitely not. That’s more Shepard’s style, apparently.”

Grunt snorted and shook his head. He appeared disappointed but hardly surprised by the answer.

“What’s with the twenty questions?” Kaidan inquired at last. He seemed genuinely curious why the young krogan might want to know so much about him all of a sudden, when the two of them had only barely met.

“I haven’t asked twenty. Yet.”

It was then that Shepard determined it time to check in on them. She’d been watching from the kitchen while no one else was paying attention. Amused as she was, there was a chance that she could make this go a little smoother. She sauntered around the counter and rested a hand on each of their shoulders as she stepped up beside them. “How are my boys? Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Kaidan answered, the word trailing off at the end and highlighting his confusion.

“I’m not so sure, Shepard,” Grunt flatly answered. His eyes never left the face of the biotic. He was clearly unimpressed.

“Am I... missing something?” Kaidan’s eyebrows lifted as he glanced between Shepard and Grunt. He had always been observant. He obviously recognized that there was something significant about this bizarre conversation, but had yet to identify it.

“Grunt just wanted to talk to you,” Shepard began, a grin creeping across her lips at the bewilderment evident in her fellow Spectre’s expression. “He thought--”

“Shepard is a part of my krantt,” Grunt blurted, rather unexpectedly.

“A part of your… what?” Kaidan stammered, still having difficulty wrapping his mind around what was happening.

“How many salarians have you killed?” Grunt inquired. He clearly wasn’t going to be swayed to back down any time soon.

“A few, I suppose. I don’t typically keep track, but I’ve never really aimed specifically for--”

“What about krogan?” Grunt continued.

“What is this about?” Kaidan didn’t seem terribly comfortable with where the line of questioning was going, particularly if he didn’t know the end goal.

“He’s judging your worthiness,” Shepard explained, offering a sympathetic shrug of her shoulders and dropping her arms back to her sides.

 

“Of what?” the Major asked, his gaze bouncing suspiciously between the two.

Shepard extended a hand to him, which he took in his own without question. She firmly shook it and offered him a broad smile. “Sorry, I don’t know if I ever officially introduced myself since my last trip to Tuchanka. Urdnot Shepard.”

Grunt’s deep chuckle was met with one from Kaidan. That sparkle in his amber eyes signaled his growing understanding of the situation.

“You sure about this one, Shepard? I know humans are soft anyway, but I think you could find a tougher one,” the krogan observed.

“Hey,” Kaidan responded, feigning offense. “Ask Wrex if I’m good enough. We’ve fought together plenty of times.”

“DON’T TRUST HIM. HE’S AN INBRED PYJAK,” came Wrex’s booming answer from the balcony above. He’d apparently been curious as to how this little exchange was going to pan out as well. He followed up his warning with a hearty, rumbling laugh.

Kaidan’s neck craned to lock the clan’s leader in a firm stare. He rolled his eyes and snickered. “Thanks, Wrex.”

“Anytime,” Wrex acknowledged with a lift of his glass… which was already empty.

“You’re not going to help me out here? You know I have good qualities,” Kaidan pleaded as he turned his attention back to Shepard and held his arms out wide. There was a certain playfulness in the gesture and tone that suggested that he wasn’t offended by the situation. That was good, at least.

“Plenty,” Shepard answered, smirking at him. “Be happy you don’t have to fight him or start headbutting one another to show dominance. I convinced him to go along with some nice, gentle interrogation.”

“Great. Thanks,” he responded, crossing his arms and locking eyes with the young krogan. “Okay, Grunt, what else have you got?”

“How many turians have you killed?” It seemed that Grunt was intent on getting the answers he needed to make a proper judgment about the human’s worthiness for a member of his krantt, no matter how silly the others thought the practice might be.

Kaidan pondered that one for a long moment before sighing. “At least one more than I intended.”

Grunt chuckled at that. “I like that answer.”

Shepard shook her head. She still wasn’t sure why he found dead turians so funny.

“How many times have you had to save her when she’s doing something reckless?”

Shepard’s jaw went slack at that one, and the stone stillness of the krogan’s expression had her wondering if he was serious or not.

“More than I can count,” Kaidan chuckled. “I bet you have, too.”

“On an almost daily basis,” Grunt answered as a wide, satisfied smile surfaced on his lips.

“Hey!” Shepard didn’t appreciate the turn this conversation was taking.

Grunt slapped a hand down on Kaidan’s shoulder so hard it seemed like he should have buckled under the pressure. He didn’t. “You’re alright.”


End file.
